Personal item reminder

Abstract

A system and method are provided for allowing users to verify the presence of personal items. RFID tags are attached to personal items, and the items are entered into a list. The user makes travel lists from the list of items. When traveling, the user queries the system to determine whether all personal items in the travel list are within range of the system. The system checks for the presence of the RFID tags associated with the items in the travel list. If any RFIDs are not present, the user is alerted. Optionally, the system updates the last known location of items whenever checking for the presence of personal items, so that if an item is not found the user can determine where the item was last known to have been.

1. A system for detecting the presence of items labeled with radio frequency (RFID) tags, comprising:
 a memory for storing a current list of at least one item; 
 an RFID interrogator for sending signals to bigger RFID tags; 
 an RFID receiver for receiving and identifying signals transmitted by RFID tags; and 
 a tracker for receiving a query from a user through a user interface, for instructing the RFID interrogator which of at least one RFID is to be searched for, for receiving from the RFID receiver an identification of any items in the current list for which the RFID tag is not within detection range, and for displaying on the user interface an identification of any items for which the RFID tag is not within detection range; and 
 a location detector for determining a current location of the personal communication device. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  wherein the user interface, the RFID interrogator, the RFID receiver, and the tracker are located within a single electronic device. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2  wherein the electronic device is the personal communication device. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1  wherein the personal communication device employs soft radio. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1  wherein the tracker is adapted to determine the current location from the location detector, and to store the current location as a last known location for items whose RFID tag is within detection range. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1  wherein the RFID interrogator and the RFID receiver are located within a Universal Serial Bus (USB) plug-in. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1  wherein the RFID interrogator and the RFID receiver are located within a Personal Computer Manufacturer Interface Adaptor (PCMIA) plug-in. 
     
     
       8. A method of detecting the presence of items labeled with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, comprising:
 storing a current list of at list one item; 
 in response to a query by a user, detecting whether the RFID tag of each item in the current list is within detection range; and 
 
       for each item whose RFID tag is not within detection range, notifying the user that the item is missing,
 wherein storing the current list comprises storing the current list in a central database operated by a network provider. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  further comprising the steps of:
 storing an item list comprising at least one record, each record corresponding to an item and storing a name of the item and the RFID of the RFID tag of the item; 
 generating at least one travel list comprising RFIDs from the item list; and 
 designating one travel list as the current list. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9  further comprising the step of assigning the name of each item in response to input received from a user. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9  wherein each record further stores a last known location of the corresponding item, and comprising the further steps of:
 determining a current location; 
 storing a last known location of each item in the current list; 
 designating the current location as the last known location of each item in the current list for which the RFID tag is detected as being within detection range; and 
 indicating the last known location of each item in the current list for which the RFID tag is not detected as being within detection range. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9  wherein the step of designating one travel list as the current list comprises receiving a designation of one of the travel lists as the current list from the user. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 9  comprising the further step of associating each travel list with a corresponding geographic region, and wherein the step of designating one travel list as the current list comprises the steps of:
 determining a current location; and 
 designating as the current list the travel list whose corresponding geographic region corresponds to the current location. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 9  comprising the further step of associating each travel list with at least one corresponding trigger item, and wherein the step of designating one travel list as the current list comprises the steps of:
 determining, for each travel list, whether the RFID tag of the at least one corresponding trigger item is within detection range; and 
 if the RFID tag of the at least one corresponding trigger item of a travel list is within range, designating the travel list as the current list.